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Magic Mat

I’ve been trying to figure out why everything about Jiu-Jitsu seems better to me since I started training at Lincoln Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Center. I mean, I’m training with mostly the same people, so that can’t be it. I’ve decided the only reasonable explanation is that the mat at LBJJC is magic. For one thing, I used to get mat burn all the time, and now, even though I’m training harder, I’ve hardly gotten any! Unfortunately, the magic mat does not make me any better at Jiu-Jitsu, I’m still losing as much as I ever did, but I’m enjoying it more now. Then again, the fact that I’m having more fun makes me want to spend more time on the mat, so in a way, I guess it is making me better. Now that I’ve bled profusely on the mat at The Center, I’m a part of it, so I’m sure it’s magic will only grow stronger!

Of course I don’t really believe that the mat is what has made such a difference for me, but I think it might embarrass Greg if I called him “Magic Man”! His teaching style is well-suited to my needs, which is really why I’m so optimistic and encouraged. Jiu-Jitsu has always been like a foreign language to me, and in the past I was only able to grasp a basic pronunciation of some of the words, but I didn’t really understand their full meaning, or how to correctly put sentences together. Being helped by Greg has made me realize that I wasn’t even pronouncing some of the words right, and now I’m beginning to build a stronger vocabulary. I’m still at the “See Spot run” stage of sentence creation, but I think I have a firmer grasp of the concepts.

During class this week, Greg gave me one of the best compliments that a teacher can give to a student, he said “You make me happy”, and that makes me happy. Since Lincoln, NE was recently named the happiest place in the U.S., and people who train BJJ are obviously the happiest people in the world, I think it’s safe to conclude that Lincoln Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Center is the happiest place on earth! We even have a magic mat, so suck on that, Disney World!